As one of the most respected American independent filmmakers, John Sayles has created a body of work as distinguished in its diversity as for its consistent quality and inspiring originality. He's never been one to march t... more &raquoo the commercial beat, but chooses instead to follow his creative impulse wherever it leads him. The Secret of Roan Inish led Sayles to the beautiful and moody West Coast of Ireland; it is a tale of a girl who discovers that her family has been touched by myth and magic throughout the years. Following the death of her mother, young Fiona (Jeni Courtney) is sent to live with her grandparents on the Irish coast across from Roan Inish, the island where her family once lived. She's told stories about the selkies--seals that can turn into humans--who have been connected with Fiona's family over the ages. At first she's not sure if the selkies are real or mythological, but she later realizes that they hold the key to reclaiming her family heritage. What's remarkable about this film (which Sayles adapted from Rosalie Fry's novel Secret of the Ron Mor Skerry) is that it's not told as a cute fantasy for children, but as a straightforward, unsentimental story of a young girl's family history. That gives the film--which was beautifully photographed by master cinematographer Haskell Wexler--an understated charm that is completely absorbing in its atmosphere and subtle tone. There's magic as well, to be sure--you could almost swear that the seals and seagulls in the film took direction from Sayles as well as any human actor! --Jeff Shannon&laquo less

Member Movie Reviews

S.J. T. from FREDERICKSBRG, TX Reviewed on 5/9/2015...

I loved "The Secret of Roan Inish"...five stars for the story, the scenery, and the acting!
"The Secret of Roan Inish" is a wonderful combination for both children and adults, of legend and history.
The story begins with a family tragedy during WWII, as a small Irish village is forced to evacuate their small home island very quickly, due to the expectation of enemy bombers, and in the rush, a baby is swept into the ocean and lost at sea.
After fruitless searching, the family must rejoin the evacuation, moving to the mainland, where they find new homes and work, and start a new life, even amidst the mayhem and destruction of war.
The family grieved for their lost child, but as many people were grieving at that time for lost loved ones, and life in wartime is hard, the special grief of a very young girl for the loss of her baby brother went unnoticed, and she began to live in her own childish world, assuring herself that the Silkies, the magical half-human seals would take care of her lost brother.
(In Irish and Scottish folk tales, seals (who have a very sweet and human appearance to them at times) can magically change back and forth between being human and being seals, and in the Silkie legends, it's common for a male Silkie to turn into a human for one night, "lie with a maiden" and then return years later to take his human offspring back to the sea.)
So as the child regresses more into her magical thoughts, the children of the uprooted village become involved in a secret project that pulls her more into reality.
As fishermen's children, they are very at home in boats, and are often gone for hours with no supervision, and what their parents don't know, is that the children have been rowing or sailing out to their previous island home, the collection of abandoned cottages that have fallen into total disrepair after being abandoned during the war.
The children decide to rebuild their cottages, in hopes of convincing their parents to move back to their previous life, and that was so much fun to watch, and was probably historically accurate, as to how to build walls and roofs out of natural materials, and make them weather-proof to fit the harsh northern Irish weather.
Meanwhile, of course, our heart is with the young sister, still hoping against hope, that her baby brother will reappear out of the waves, after all these years. Childhood innocence and magical thinking, fighting with an adult's awareness of reality.
This story is enjoyable on so many levels, and like a good Irish tale should, has such depth to the story, moving us from sad to happy to touching, from anxious to insightful to playful.
I first saw "The Secret of Roan Inish" in the mid-nineties, in an art theater, and it has stood out in my memory all this time as a shining little jewel of a movie, that always made me smile to think of it.
If you like a good family-style movie (so rare these days) that is magical, uplifting, and heart-warming, search for this little jewel!

1 of 1 member(s) found this review helpful.

Movie Reviews

The Secret of Roan Inish

Peg Fee | Indianapolis, IN | 05/01/2010

(5 out of 5 stars)

"As my family comes from Colonsay, in the inner Hebrides, it was great to view this film and give it to our granddaughters. My family history contains the myth of "Selkies", and as a "water bug" myself and as my granddaughters are becoming, the film depicts what I would like to tell my grandchildren. Good viewing for anyone, but especially for those who have ancestors who lived on islands between Ireland and Scotland."

Roan inish

Jeffrey H. Wraley | Alaska | 02/19/2010

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The dvd was received in good order and in timely fashion. The movie itself was heart warming."